House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Diana Johnson asks what assessment the government has made of the effectiveness of the universal infant free school meals policy since 2014.

Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi says the new eligibility criteria introduced last April means that more pupils will be entitled to free school meals from 2022, and that the universal infant free school meals policy is "important and working effectively".

Shadow education minister Mike Kane asks if the government believes it was wrong to propose abolishing free school means in the last election, and calls for them to extend Labour's manifesto proposal for extending free school meals to all primary school pupils "if there is a snap election".

Mr Zahawi says the government has extended eligibility criteria for free school meals three times since being in power, and that he remains "committed to the policy".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Conservative Baroness Bloomfield asks what the impact will be of the RNLI's decision to downgrade the all-weather lifeboats capacity in New Quay, Ceredigion.

Transport Minister Baroness Sugg says the RNLI is "an independent organisation" and decides itself on how to deploy boats.

Baroness Bloomfield says that this decision leaves a gap of many miles on the UK coastline where a rescue ship cannot be launched in stormy conditions.

Baroness Sugg says that "there are faster boats at all RNLI stations" in the area and the charity does not believe that the changes will diminish capability.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Conservative MP Luke Graham asks what recent steps the department has taken to increase the take-up of STEM subjects, external.

Education Minister Chris Skidmore says the government is committed to encouraging young people into STEM education training, and is paying particular attention to ensuring more students take up computing.

SNP MP Philippa Whitford asks what the government is doing to ensure more women take up STEM subjects, and calls for a strong relationship between women in core industries and schools to ensure a positive increase.

Mr Skidmore says the number of women taking up STEM subjects has increased by 26% since 2010, and that the government is "looking at" industry advice.

The PM is expected to underline the UK's commitment to ensuring no hard border during Tuesday's visit.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Labour's Baroness Wheeler asks how the government will ensure that there are enough NHS staff to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan.

Government spokesperson Baroness Manzoor says that the health secretary is working with the NHS to bring forward a "detailed workforce" plan for the service.

Baroness Wheeler says that one in 10 diagnostic posts are currently empty, and she asks whether the government has "any idea" of how the Long Term Plan will work during this period of high staff vacancies.

Baroness Manzoor says that the NHS has more staff now than at any other time in its history, but she adds that the current level of vacancies are "unsustainable".

House of Lords
Parliament

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Liberal Democrat Baroness Barker asks what assessment has been made of the decision to reduce the Public Health England grant for 2019/20 by £85m.

Government spokesperson Baroness Manzoor says "despite funding pressures" councils are increasing the health of local communities.

Baroness Barker says that local authority public health budgets have been cut by £700m since 2014, and she asks if there is an "urgent need to rethink this strategy" due to rises in sexual diseases.

Baroness Manzoor says that local authorities have been "aware of these cuts for well over a year" and have been able to prepare. She adds that the budget of public health is not the only thing that influences the health of the UK.

House of Lords
Parliament

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Lord Reay, winner of the Parliamentary hereditary peers by-election last week, has also just been introduced and sworn in. He'll be sitting on the Conservative benches.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Shadow education minister Gordon Marsden says the government is providing encouraging words but no action with regards to improving the further education sector.

"FE institutions need more money," he says, and calls for the education secretary to announce to the Chancellor that increased FE funding in the spending review is "the top priority".

Education Minister Anne Milton says it is good to hear people across the House talking about education, as "the last Labour government didn't talk about it very much".

House of Lords
Parliament

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The Lords are introducing the new Conservative Peer, Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford.

During her time in the Commons, she was a member of the Home Affairs Committee and later became chair of the Science and Technology Committee. She was an MP from 2010-2017, after Liberal Democrat Layla Moran won her seat in 2017.

Baroness Blackwood has been brought in following the resignation of Lord O'Shaughnessy as a health minister, and it's widely expected that she will take up the post of minister in the Department for Health.

House of Commons
Parliament

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Labour MP Ruth Cadbury opens today's questions to education ministers, asking what discussions have been had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding priorities for post-16 education in the forthcoming spending review.

Education Minister Anne Milton says the government is working closely with the Treasury to consider how effective current spending is on post-16 education.

"There has been money going in, but I am aware that the base rate for post-16 education funding still leaves the FE sector with challenges ahead," she adds.

Ms Cadbury says not enough is being invested in T-Levels and more practical further education qualifications, and that this should be a priority of the government who are "oblivious" to staff strikes across the FE sector.

Ms Milton says that she "understands the challenges" faced by post-16 education institutions, and that £2bn has been put forward by the government towards apprenticeship training from 2020.

House of Lords
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The Lords start at 2:30pm with an introduction to new peer and former Oxford MP Nicola Blackwood.

There are oral questions on Brexit, Northern Ireland and grooming gangs. Then there's an urgent question on Venezuela.

Finally, the Lords will finish their day considering changes to the Trade Bill at its committee stage.

House of Commons
Parliament

Our coverage of the Commons begins at 2.30pm with questions to the Education Secretary Damian Hinds and his ministers.

The Speaker has granted two urgent questions today. The first, introduced by Labour MP Vernon Coaker, is on the Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s new policy of Knife Crime Prevention Orders which was unveiled last week.

The home secretary says the ASBO-style orders will give police more power to impose curfews and send young people aged over 12 caught with knives on educational courses.

The second urgent question of the day is from Labour MP Fabian Hamilton on the US withdrawal from nuclear treaties.

Last week US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that from 2 February the US is suspending its participation in the important Cold War-era disarmament agreement - the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Business Secretary Greg Clark will then deliver a statement on Nissan’s Sunderland plant after the company confirmed yesterday that its new model, the X-Trail, will be manufactured in Japan instead of Sunderland.

Earlier this afternoon Business Minister Richard Harrington said a £60m support package for Nissan's Sunderland plant "still stands", despite the decision not to build its latest SUV in the UK.

To close the afternoon, MPs will have a general debate on sport.

Welcome back to our coverage of what's on in Westminster this week.

We'll be looking at debates and questions in the Commons and the Lords today. If you want to look ahead, read BBC parliamentary correspondent Mark D'Arcy's blog which outlines what's on in the Commons and the Lords.